Make it easier to get rid of old needles in Hastings

I had an EpiPen which I need to carry in my handbag, in case of severe allergic reactions. The EpiPen (thankfully) had not needed to be used and the expiry date on it indicated I needed a new one, which was obtained on prescription from my GP surgery.

I took the expired EpiPen to the chemist that had dispensed it to me. Oh no, they didn’t have a needle disposal.

Strange, as they take outdated pills but not my outdated syringe.

They suggested I go next door to an equally well-known chain of pharmacies and ask them to dispose of it there. They also suggested I should call the council and ask for a “proper needle disposal bin”. For one unused syringe?

So, I proceeded to the second pharmacy, and they didn’t dispose of syringes either.

In the end, I drove to Conquest A&E. The receptionist there kindly took it from me and immediately threw it into the proper yellow disposal sharps bin.

This got me thinking about used needles being left around in parks and public washrooms for instance. Why don’t we provide proper needle disposals in these places?

Why do we make it so hard for people to dispose of them? By making it easier, we aren’t promoting drug use, but instead making these places safer for the general public.

Drug abuse is all around us. We all need to open our eyes to its existence, right under our noses.

We must all acknowledge that our society has a drug problem, instead of denying the problem exists.

One way of starting that dialogue is providing proper public needle disposals in public places with accompanying helpful information stating where people can go to get support.